SOURCE: Quova

August 18, 2008 08:00 ET

Quova Helps the Alaska Department of Revenue Detect Fraudulent Applications for the Permanent Fund Dividend Division

Use of IP Geolocation Data Ensures Only Valid In-State Residents Receive Permanent Fund Dividends

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - August 18, 2008) - Quova, Inc., the leading provider of Internet geolocation data services, today announced that the Alaska Department of Revenue is using their IP geolocation data service to ensure that only valid Alaskan residents receive dividends from the 2008 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division. Of the 630,000 applications the state expected this year, 71%, or 456,795 applications, were filed online.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division was formed in 1976 to invest the proceeds incurred by Alaska's oil and gas revenues. Earnings from the fund, now worth more than $40 billion, are reinvested and a portion of the earnings is allocated annually to Alaska residents. In 2007 each Alaska resident received a dividend of $1,654. The only qualification for submission is residence within the state of Alaska for one full calendar year before the application is submitted and the applicant must intend to remain in the State indefinitely.

Prior to 2003, all Permanent Fund Dividend applications had to be submitted by mail. Each applicant's residential status is verified before payments are made. Verifying in-state residency was a time-intensive and costly process because each letter had to be reviewed for postmark discrepancies, causing delays in payments to residents. In an effort to reduce costs and speed up the process, the state looked to move the application process online, but needed a way to verify the residency of an online applicant.

Quova's IP geolocation data service is used to help the Alaska Department of Revenue to compare the IP address location of where the applicant was logged onto the Internet when the application was submitted and a question specific to whether the applicant was in Alaska when submitting the form. Mismatches or inconsistencies are flagged for further investigation. Since implementing geolocation data services, the State has saved more than one million dollars in fraudulent applications. Additionally, fraud investigations resulted in eight criminal indictments, states Daniel Boone, Permanent Fund Division Fraud Investigations Manager.

"The goal of the Permanent Fund Dividend Division is to assure that only eligible Alaskans receive the dividend," said Annette Smith, IT Manager for the Division. "With Quova's IP geolocation data service, we have a streamlined way to protect the interests of all Alaskans and maintain the integrity of the dividend program."

"Quova's expertise lies in the thorough data we provide," said Marie Alexander, CEO at Quova. "As part of our commitment to our customers, we are constantly updating and verifying the information in order to be as accurate as possible."

The Permanent Fund Dividend Fraud Unit investigates hundreds of applications each year. By leveraging Quova's data, the Alaska Department of Revenue saves time and money in the processing of the applications, but the state also has access to Quova's forensic data to track the fraudsters. Once fraudulently obtained dividends are recovered, they are deposited back into the Dividend Fund and included in the next dividend payment.

About the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division

The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division was formed in 1976 to invest the proceeds incurred by Alaska's oil and gas revenues. Earnings from the fund, now worth more than $40 billion, are reinvested and a portion is allocated to Alaska residents annually by the state. In 2007, all valid Alaska residents received $1,654 from the Permanent Fund.

About Quova, Inc.

Quova, Inc. enables online businesses to instantly identify where a visitor to their Web site is geographically located. Major e-retailers, ad networks, banks, and government agencies integrate Quova's data into their Web applications to geo-target their advertising and content, detect identify theft and card-not-present fraud, manage digital content distribution, comply with local laws and more. Quova delivers detailed demographic and network characteristic data about an IP address, down to a city area. The data is 99.9% accurate at the country level and 96% accurate at the US State level (independent research conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers). Quova, founded in 2000, is based in Mountain View, California, and is privately owned. www.quova.com.